Second Breakfast: August 2023
By Austin Johnson
Second Breakfast is going to be different compared to last month. Instead of doing Favorites categories, I’m going to pay homage to where Second Breakfast comes from. It’s a great little quote from Pippin in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, so I want to build a Fellowship using characters from all the films I watched in September. I watched 30 films in total throughout the month and I’m going to choose nine characters from those watches to build a September Fellowship. The nine dudes in the real Fellowship are Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. I’m not going to try and replicate that group or replace them, but instead I will pick nine performances that are just my favorites. I’m not trying to actually create a cohesive Fellowship. I may do that in the future, but for now let’s build a ridiculous team. Below are the 30 films I watched and then below that is the squad. Let’s get it goin!
Night and the City (1950)
American Graffiti (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
Serpico (1973)
The Sting (1973)
Massacre at Central High (1976)
Risky Business (1983)
Surviving Desire (1992)
The Craft (1996)
Fight Club (1999)
Battle Royale (2000)
The Beach (2000)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Zodiac (2007)
The Social Network (2010)
The Master (2012)
Gone Girl (2014)
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)
Whiplash (2014)
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
La La Land (2016)
First Man (2018)
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Babylon (2022)
BS High (2023)
Elemental (2023)
Theater Camp (2023)
The Fellowship of September
Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil - The Exorcist (1973)
Al Pacino as Frank Serpico - Serpico (1973)
Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer - Fight Club (1999)
Ko Shibasaki as Mitsuko Soma/Girl #11 - Battle Royale (2000)
Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood (2007)
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg - The Social Network (2010)
Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Quell - The Master (2012)
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd - The Master (2012)
J.K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher - Whiplash (2014)
Let’s start with The Exorcist. What a fucking film. It hits its 50 year anniversary this year and we covered it on our podcast. Every time I watch it, I’m reminded of how damn good it is, especially the performances. I’m selecting young Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil for the Fellowship because she is one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema. We get the youthfulness of Regan and the wickedness of Pazuzu. It would honestly be a disaster to have Pazuzu in control of the Ring or even around it, but this isn’t about finding a group of characters who could successfully get to Mordor, so why not get the devil involved?
Staying in 1973 here with Al Pacino as Frank Serpico. I don’t think it’s an all-time film, but I do think it’s a hall of fame level performance from Pacino in the middle of being in Godfather Part 1 and 2. His entire 70s run is unprecedented. I watched Serpico, American Graffiti, and The Sting for extra 1973 homework just for the hell of it when we did The Exorcist on the pod. I watched Serpico years ago because of season 3 episode 14, "Bums: Making a Mess All Over the City" from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. If you know, you know. That first watch was years ago so rewatching it was a lot of fun. I like the idea of a paranoid Al Pacino doing his best to get the ring to Mordor with sudden outbreaks coming here and there. He would totally know Regan is possessed before everyone else.
Next up is Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer in Fight Club. I love Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, but on this latest rewatch, I just couldn’t help but fall in love with Marla all over again. We did The Social Network on the pod in September, so I rewatched Fight Club, Zodiac, Gone Girl, and of course The Social Network. Fincher is very clearly one of my favorite filmmakers and Fight Club is a huge reason for that. It’s the first of his films I ever watched all the way through as a teenager and I still can’t get enough of it. Marla would be chain smoking cigarettes all the way to Mordor and questioning why the hell they are even on this quest.
Alright, here’s someone who could fucking take down some orcs. Ko Shibasaki as Mitsuko Soma is my favorite performance in Battle Royale which is a film I finally watched for the first time all the way through. Shit, what a ride. Mitsuko is a ruthless girl who isn’t afraid of the moment when it comes to violently taking down the competition. She’s a wild card, but that can come in handy when you’re trying to destroy the most powerful ring in existence.
Let’s go ahead and get the guy who would undoubtedly try his absolute hardest to be the leader of the Fellowship of September. Daniel Day-Lewis puts in one of the best lead performances that I’ve ever seen in There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview. An oil man turned into a Fellowship man trying to take over Middle-Earth with greed and force. He drinks milkshakes, gets the ring to Mordor, and smokes out of his pipe while doing it. I rewatched There Will Be Blood, The Master, and Licorice Pizza for our episode on The Master. I fucking love Paul Thomas Anderson and I’ll take any excuse I can get to rewatch some of his work.
Back to Fincher. I mentioned rewatching some of his shit for The Social Network episode, so I’m gonna put Mark Zuckerberg played by Jesse Eisenberg in the Fellowship because I think he was unreal in that film. He totally understood the assignment of being in a Fincher directed and Aaron Sorkin-written masterpiece. If you wanted to destroy the ring, you would’ve destroyed the ring.
We have a couple performances from The Master next. When we did it on the pod, we talked about how we see Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman as dual lead performances as Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd. It’s hard to say who exactly wins the film, so fuck it I want both in the Fellowship. Lancaster would definitely challenge Plainview and he would also see the Fellowship as a reason to write Book 3. Freddie would be great cause he’d just throw himself into any situation physically and make great beverages out of weird shit in Middle-Earth.
The last member of the Fellowship of September is J.K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher. We covered Whiplash at the very end of September, so I rewatched all of Damien Chazelle’s films. Whiplash, La La Land, First Man, and Babylon. I like them all, but Whiplash is by far my favorite. Fletcher is a huge reason for that. He’s so fucking evil. He would be a gift and a curse when carrying the ring to Mordor because I think he would be a fierce fighter, but he wouldn’t necessarily be an encouraging team member. I mean look at this group though, they are either getting the ring destroyed really fast because they’re all freaks in their own way, or they ain’t destroying shit. I would put my money on everything imploding. See you next month!
Night and the City (1950)
American Graffiti (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
Serpico (1973)
The Sting (1973)
Massacre at Central High (1976)
Risky Business (1983)
Surviving Desire (1992)
The Craft (1996)
Fight Club (1999)
Battle Royale (2000)
The Beach (2000)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Zodiac (2007)
The Social Network (2010)
The Master (2012)
Gone Girl (2014)
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)
Whiplash (2014)
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
La La Land (2016)
First Man (2018)
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Babylon (2022)
BS High (2023)
Elemental (2023)
Theater Camp (2023)
The Fellowship of September
Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil - The Exorcist (1973)
Al Pacino as Frank Serpico - Serpico (1973)
Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer - Fight Club (1999)
Ko Shibasaki as Mitsuko Soma/Girl #11 - Battle Royale (2000)
Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood (2007)
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg - The Social Network (2010)
Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Quell - The Master (2012)
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd - The Master (2012)
J.K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher - Whiplash (2014)
Let’s start with The Exorcist. What a fucking film. It hits its 50 year anniversary this year and we covered it on our podcast. Every time I watch it, I’m reminded of how damn good it is, especially the performances. I’m selecting young Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil for the Fellowship because she is one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema. We get the youthfulness of Regan and the wickedness of Pazuzu. It would honestly be a disaster to have Pazuzu in control of the Ring or even around it, but this isn’t about finding a group of characters who could successfully get to Mordor, so why not get the devil involved?
Staying in 1973 here with Al Pacino as Frank Serpico. I don’t think it’s an all-time film, but I do think it’s a hall of fame level performance from Pacino in the middle of being in Godfather Part 1 and 2. His entire 70s run is unprecedented. I watched Serpico, American Graffiti, and The Sting for extra 1973 homework just for the hell of it when we did The Exorcist on the pod. I watched Serpico years ago because of season 3 episode 14, "Bums: Making a Mess All Over the City" from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. If you know, you know. That first watch was years ago so rewatching it was a lot of fun. I like the idea of a paranoid Al Pacino doing his best to get the ring to Mordor with sudden outbreaks coming here and there. He would totally know Regan is possessed before everyone else.
Next up is Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer in Fight Club. I love Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, but on this latest rewatch, I just couldn’t help but fall in love with Marla all over again. We did The Social Network on the pod in September, so I rewatched Fight Club, Zodiac, Gone Girl, and of course The Social Network. Fincher is very clearly one of my favorite filmmakers and Fight Club is a huge reason for that. It’s the first of his films I ever watched all the way through as a teenager and I still can’t get enough of it. Marla would be chain smoking cigarettes all the way to Mordor and questioning why the hell they are even on this quest.
Alright, here’s someone who could fucking take down some orcs. Ko Shibasaki as Mitsuko Soma is my favorite performance in Battle Royale which is a film I finally watched for the first time all the way through. Shit, what a ride. Mitsuko is a ruthless girl who isn’t afraid of the moment when it comes to violently taking down the competition. She’s a wild card, but that can come in handy when you’re trying to destroy the most powerful ring in existence.
Let’s go ahead and get the guy who would undoubtedly try his absolute hardest to be the leader of the Fellowship of September. Daniel Day-Lewis puts in one of the best lead performances that I’ve ever seen in There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview. An oil man turned into a Fellowship man trying to take over Middle-Earth with greed and force. He drinks milkshakes, gets the ring to Mordor, and smokes out of his pipe while doing it. I rewatched There Will Be Blood, The Master, and Licorice Pizza for our episode on The Master. I fucking love Paul Thomas Anderson and I’ll take any excuse I can get to rewatch some of his work.
Back to Fincher. I mentioned rewatching some of his shit for The Social Network episode, so I’m gonna put Mark Zuckerberg played by Jesse Eisenberg in the Fellowship because I think he was unreal in that film. He totally understood the assignment of being in a Fincher directed and Aaron Sorkin-written masterpiece. If you wanted to destroy the ring, you would’ve destroyed the ring.
We have a couple performances from The Master next. When we did it on the pod, we talked about how we see Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman as dual lead performances as Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd. It’s hard to say who exactly wins the film, so fuck it I want both in the Fellowship. Lancaster would definitely challenge Plainview and he would also see the Fellowship as a reason to write Book 3. Freddie would be great cause he’d just throw himself into any situation physically and make great beverages out of weird shit in Middle-Earth.
The last member of the Fellowship of September is J.K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher. We covered Whiplash at the very end of September, so I rewatched all of Damien Chazelle’s films. Whiplash, La La Land, First Man, and Babylon. I like them all, but Whiplash is by far my favorite. Fletcher is a huge reason for that. He’s so fucking evil. He would be a gift and a curse when carrying the ring to Mordor because I think he would be a fierce fighter, but he wouldn’t necessarily be an encouraging team member. I mean look at this group though, they are either getting the ring destroyed really fast because they’re all freaks in their own way, or they ain’t destroying shit. I would put my money on everything imploding. See you next month!